What is your opinion of rich people?

[Herman Munster]

Do you make a distinction between rich people who may have come from modest beginnings but worked hard, went to good schools, and then thrived in the corporate world to become successful vs. the Paris Hilton/Dumbya types that are born with silver feet in their mouths?

Or is anyone who is rich so perverted by money and the things they have to do to get it that their whole value system gets fucked up?

FYI, I'll say a person is rich if they meet any one of these criteria:

1) $150,000 income in a non-metro area or cheap cost of living area (the south, midwest, texas)

or

2) $250,000 income in a major metro or expensive area like NY, CA

or

3) Accumulated assets of over $2 million. If that's the case, you don't have to work for a living. $2 million in assets will get you a 6 figure income even if you invest them in bank CD's without eating principle.

[Deja Q]

1. Their actions mean more than anything else.

[liberaldemocrat7]

50. One of the Greatest Presidents had alot of money; FDR

I want people to earn wealth honestly and allow the government to help those who need help.

However most Republicans enable poor business practices and also do not want the government to help those who need help to any great extent. You get the code words from these Republicans such as we want limited government, and that people should make their own decisions with their money and get to keep more of their money, conveniently leaving out that such government philosphy kills people and also deliberately makes government less able to help people who need help.

Republicans tend to enable irresponsible business practices.

[sweetheart]

2. smart, if self made

Credit where its due, if someone earns their way to fortune, then they've figured out somehting in this cockup world.

[lonestarnot]

3. Most richies suck ass, but there are a few good ones.

[Avalux]

4. "Rich people" is a broad brush -

can't judge people just because they have money; best to determine what kind of person they are by their actions.

[lonestarnot]

7. Actions speak louder than words. True that.

[MrSlayer]

5. I think they suck.

Mainly because I'm jealous but also because most of them really do suck.

[lonestarnot]

9. Why would you be jealous? You too can be rich.

Learn to steal from people, use other people's sweat, minds and blood. You too can be rich.

[MrSlayer]

34. Apparently I'm too nice a person to be a good businessman.

I can't just fuck people over without giving it a second thought so I'll never be rich unless I hit the lottery and that's never going to happen. My experiences with rich people tell me that the wrong people have the money.

[lonestarnot]

45. Good on you Mr. Slayer. Peace.

[applegrove]

6. You don't know anything about anyone until you have experience of them.

[skygazer]

8. I don't generalize about people

I grew up in a poor area - I now live in a wealthy one. I've known people in both areas who were total assholes - I've also known people in both areas who were incredibly kind and caring. People are people. You judge them individually or at least I would hope you do.

[sweetheart]

16. Yes as you say, what is wealth?

Clearly to be an asshole in puerile states of pain and egostistical suffering is not 'wealth' whatever
appearance, if we're discussing the real deal. So perhaps wealth, then is not about material life really,
but this state of generosity and goodwill beyond the wisest graspings of craven persons. And maybe this
craven consumption of selfish desire in to the grave is the poverty.

[Texasgal]

17. Great post!

WORD!

[slackmaster]

42. I judge people as individuals

A person who got wealthy by exploiting others is not morally different than a lazy person who could be productive but chooses to leech off the "system".

[Warpy]

10. Your definition of "rich" is very naive

It takes a minimum of ten million dollars to join the rich man's club these days, and at that amount, you'll be one of the poor relations who has to hitch a ride on someone else's private jet when you want to go to some chichi enclave for the social season.

I've met a few of them, mostly old, old New England money. I've found them affable enough but utterly clueless, concerned with the pleasantness of their own surroundings and utterly unconcerned with ours. They have no idea in the world why someone who has been laid off can't just tap into a trust fund or sell some stocks instead of relying on unemployment insurance. They have no idea that some elderly people were unable to save up a large nest egg after they'd paid the bills raising their children.

They're not cruel people. They're just pig ignorant and don't know it.

[Herman Munster]

15. I don't agree with that definition

10 million is probably ultra-rich.

But for most people, if you make $250k or have assets of $2 million, you are rich and living very well compared to 99% of other americans.

[marions ghost]

27. your definition

may be statistically based (ie. what the 1% are worth). But for most of us 99%, people who are worth even half that would be considered "rich" or certainly borderline rich.

I work in an area of academia where the salaries aren't particularly impressive.

[Irreverend IX]

58. There are different kinds of rich.

You're talking about the more "common" rich people, who live in McMansions and have three or four SUVs. They work as doctors, lawyers, engineers or executives, and they live a fairly normal if upscale suburban lifestyle. They may have some money but they still have frequent dealings with the general population and they probably have some appreciation of the problems normal people face. I've encountered many of this type and their personalities are all over the map. Some are as nice and kind as anyone (especially the ones who eschew SUVs in favor of hybrids) while others are assholes.

Warpy's talking about the rich man's rich man. I've encountered a few and they literally seem like creatures from another dimension. They live in a carpeted world of pillows and punch-bowls. Any "work" they do, like clipping the branches of their bonsai tree collection, is purely recreational. They make money by signing dotted lines and moving funds between accounts. They don't bother flashing their SUVs or electronic gadgets; those are little-people status symbols. And they don't have to drive or interact with the public if they don't want to; they have armies of servants to take care of that. They have truly and fully overcome Adam's curse to "live by the sweat of your brow," and after spending some time with them you begin to feel like you've trespassed into an alien world crafted by a mad and fickle god. I've never met a particularly unkind member of this group, though I haven't met many people that wealthy in the first place. I've heard that the assholes in this group, while rare, are some of the most despicable people you could ever hope to meet.

The biggest correlation between wealth and personal vileness I've observed is that "wannabes" are almost never good people. I'm talking about the upper middle class who go into debt so they can live like the $2 million club for a few years, and the four-SUV families who desperately want to be members of the Paris Hilton stratum. Indeed, at just about any wealth level you'll encounter people who desperately want onto the next, and they generally exhibit (to paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson) the character of a weasel on speed.

[marions ghost]

20. say what?

:wtf: anything under 10 million is "not rich...."

NOT the definition where I come from.

[Warpy]

31. Nor would most working class people define it that way

but they like to think of themselves as middle class, which they most certainly are NOT.

[LSK]

11. a person is rich if they can never be fired

When you have so much money that you never have to work again for anyone else or you have investments coming in that pay your income, then you are rich.

[Demobrat]

12. I think making judgements about people based on their balance sheet

is just as ugly as pre-judging them based on their race, creed, or color. All rich people are not evil and all poor people are not noble.

[Wcross]

13. Admiration of first generation.

Inherited wealth is the same as winning a lottery, you just got lucky.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. Pretty much my opinion of poor people

mean ones suck.

[StellaBlue]

18. I have to agree with MrSlayer: they suck

and some of them blow, too

[rug]

19. They have the smell of stolen lives about them.

[Nikia]

21. They might be different in the less urban Midwest

Because they live closer to "the people" and cannot really ignore them. Those with children usually are forced to send them (especially the elementary school aged) to schools that contain poor and/or middle class students. If they are religious, they usually go to churches that contain a sizeable percentage of not rich people. When they buy normal every day stuff, they are forced to shop at stores that are frequented by poor and middle class people. They might be stuck up, benevalent, or even try to hide their health, but they cannot ignore less fortunate people like rich people can in some cities are areas of the country.

[Semi_subversive]

22. It's not how much you've got

It's what you do with it that makes a difference. And remember, money can't buy class. Just look at Paris Hilton.

[Herman Munster]

51. sad thing is

Paris Hilton is a businesswomen. She actually earns millions of dollars these days from promoters and clubs trying to use her image and name to sell shit. Clubs pay her lots of money to party and show up cause they know it'll drive business.

She makes millions on her own doing this. It's totally fucked up and warped.

[hobbit709]

23. I've known saints and sinners

Some of best people I've met had so much money they couldn't spend it all. Some of the biggest asses were broker than me. And the other way around. People is people-some are human beings, some are hairless apes in clothes.

[whistle]

24. Wealth is not so much what one earns as it is what one owns

....so, if I earn a salary of $150,000.00 per year from a job, that still leaves me vulnerable to becoming unemployed and thus having to dip into savings until I can find similar work at to same salary or cut way back on my spending to live within my means. However, suppose I have CDs worth $2.75 million which earn 5.25% interest, that would produce the same income of around $150,000 (granted it is considered unearned income, so I guess taxed differently) but I would be immune to any shifts in the job situation per say.

Now, the person with a comfortable income derived from a large annuity type CD has wealth, where as the person with the same income derived from having a job has no guarantee of steady employment and therefore has no wealth to assure a continuous stream of income. For a great many Americans, their wealth is in the form of retirement plans, equity in their homes and social security. George Bush along with the corporate fascists have threatened all three of these. It merely requires a single strong push such as steady unemployment to take those away from 80% of all Americans.

A couple of terms that one might keep in mind when discussing wealth are: bourgeoisie; proletariat; property; and class.


For a further discussion of these and other social arrangements you can go to:

http://leroy.cc.uregina.ca/~gingrich/s28f99.htm

[pinto]

25. No special opinion one way or the other, as a "group", to be honest.

[tech3149]

26. I agree with lonestarnot

Actions speak louder than words. Rich people are pretty much like anyone else. I had my run as what you qualify as "rich", but I remember what it's like to depend on "government cheese". I'd also say that your standards are a bit shy of where I'd put them. $250k in NY/NJ might put you in a nice neighborhood, but it doesn't take all the worry out of your life. Been there, done that and won't go back.

[murielm99]

28. If your assets are over $2 million, you don't

have to work for a living?

Not where I come from. There are many farmers here whose assets are worth that and more. They work, and work hard.

One of my friends and neighbors owns a business. He is an a transportation historian, author, and publisher of a couple of small magazines. He is worth at least 2 million in assets. He works, and works damn hard. A few years ago, he had to work extra hard, because he was facing a lawsuit, and nearly lost everything. He also had a tough time staying afloat after a nasty divorce. If he had had to sell any of his assets, he would have had no way to continue to make a living.

I know some businessmen and farmers here who live well. They seem to have earned the right, no matter how you may feel about assets of 2 million dollars. Some of them are nice people, some of them are not. But they all seem to have one thing in common: a work ethic.

[Herman Munster]

52. sorry

if you genuinely have $2 million in assets, you are working because you choose to work.

You can liquidate everything put that money into CD's and get over $100,000 a year in income. If you live outside the big cities, you will be living really really well on that.

[murielm99]

57. What universe do you live in?

Have you looked at interest rates? You will get about sixty thousand a year with today's interest rates. And that varies, too.

Why speculate and rely on banks and monetary fluctuations instead of having a business and/or real property? When this economy goes belly up, and it will, with the way * and his cronies are running up the deficit, I will rely on something other than a CD. Owning a home, a farm or a small business will mean survival in the long run.

People who own their own businesses, properties and homes are the backbone of this country, despite the republican greed machine, the Halliburtons, the corporations. For most people that is the American dream, not having a bunch of money in Cd's. Just because property values have skyrocketed in the last few years, does not mean that most people have turned into speculators who salivate at the thought of getting rid of all their real property so they can sit on their behinds. You need to travel your country and take a look at how the economy really works.

[mikeiddy]

29. I subscribe to the Equidistant Asshole Theory

which posits that generally speaking, assholes are evenly distributed in space, time and groups. In any statistically significant group or location, the ratio of assholes to decent folk will be equal. This appears to be a valid theory, based on my personal experience. YMMV

[rug]

33. How do you explain the Republican party?

[mikeiddy]

believe it or not

I have known quite a lot of decent Republicans - not all are Freepers. Dems have their share of assholes - LBJ was not a nice person, whatever his politics.


Edit for typos

[lonestarnot]

46. eeewww I like it.

[CarlVK]

30. I'm rich as hell.

I have a great job (regardless of how much the Bush crew is trying to destroy that), a beautiful wife who is the love of my life, two cats, and time to enjoy them all.

I hope you don't hate me.

[AlienGirl]

37. Me too! I have wealth Roman emperors could only dream of

I have the ability to make it light and warm just by turning knobs and touching buttons. I have lots of varied food whenever I want it, even strawberries in December if I want. I have running water, cold *and* hot, no carrying or boiling. I can, if I so desire, eat chocolate first thing every morning. I even have an exotic bird of a kind that was, in times past, kept by Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick II as the prize of his aviary, and birds of another kind historically kept by the Royal Family of Great Britain.

When I look at it through the long lens, it's staggering just how rich I am.

Tucker

[CarlVK]

40. ^5

May our sort of wealth spread.

[lonestarnot]

47. Excellent post Allen Girl!

[Swamp Rat]

32. No matter how rich, they need to share...

with me. :D

[AlienGirl]

35. It depends on the person

I have known heirs of Old Money (old as in "since the Renaissance") who were wonderful, generous people. I have known people who worked their asses off to get to rich who were also wonderful, generous people. I have also known many wonderful and generous lower-class and poor people. I have, unfortunately, met plenty of idiots, asses, and twits from every class and financial status.

The only generalizations I'd be willing to make based on socio-economic status are that the first generation to grow up wealthy usually needs to be taught repeatedly that money isn't everything; and that good-looking women who marry older upper-middle-class men for their money are the most self-centered, arrogant people in the world.

Tucker

[MissB]

36. I met a twit today.

She let me know that there was generational wealth in her family (it was a friendly coffee setting and no discussions of net worth were begun by anyone else there). I made some snide comment about "legacy".

I'm with you on that last paragraph, especially the good-looking women marrying older wealthy guys.

[AlienGirl]

39. It's only as good as the person who owns it

People who brag about their money are doofuses. If they had anything interesting in their lives besides money, they would have better topics of conversation!

The good-looking married-into-it type is epidemic where I live. They walk around in a bubble of self-absorption. :eyes: Most of 'em would be helpless if they had to fend for themselves.

Tucker

[marions ghost]

38. I make distinctions

If rich people support progressives and give a lot of money to our "causes" then I can put up with them. They're usually less arrogant than the Repiglican rich. But they still don't offset the Repiglican rich's extreme grasping and exploitation.

If rich people actively support Repugs, meaning they seriously want to screw the rest of us--how can they be good people? I don't think it's possible. I wouldn't have anything to do with rich Repugs. Zip. Zero. Some of the most obnoxious people on the face of the planet.

The rich are far more responsible for our current deplorable state of affairs than poor Joe Sixpack who stupidly votes against himself after a thorough brainwashing.

Much money that has been made is not honest money. No matter how it's made, many rich people are perverted by money, from my experience.

[SmokingJacket]

41. Every person, even every rich person, is an individual.

However, my general belief is that very few people become rich against their will (maybe there are some reluctant inheritors and some rock bands that never tried to make it big, but it just happened). And I think that if the one thing you want in life is to be RICH, you're probably lacking as a person.

Most people who inherited their wealth seem to be somewhat fucked up -- I know a few, and it's a weird way to grow up. (Though I'm sure there are some who are very nice and generous, etc!) And lots of people who earn their wealth are equally fucked up: they spent their whole lives focused on PROFIT and making money instead of what I believe are the really significant things in life.

I don't want to generalize about ALL rich people though -- everyone's different.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

43. Same As My Opinion For Poor People Or Middle Class People.

I don't judge based on economics, regardless of which way the economics go.

Remember, put the poorest man in the world with the worst luck, and the richest man in the world with the best luck, in the same exact bed and watch them as they sleep. Then tell me the difference.

[UncleSepp]

44. A bit better than my opinion of people who judge other people

... based on a single characteristic, or based on a set of assumptions about group membership.

[annabanana]

48. It's not the income, It's the out - go"

Like Grandmama said.

[Cleita]

49. Actually, some of the nicest rich people I have met were the

ones who were born to an inheritance and didn't struggle to get rich. Maybe it's because they don't know how hard it is. Some of the meanest rich people were the ones who started with five dollars in their pocket and became multi-millionaires through pinching pennies and hard work. The trouble with them is that the habits they acquired to get to the top makes them mean and often heartless.

However, that is stereo-typing certain types of rich people and it doesn't hold true always. Rich people like anyone else cut across the board in nice to mean. The big difference is that they don't have to clean their own or anyone else's bathroom.

Why do I know so much about rich people? I worked in Beverly Hills and in accounting for many financial institutions so I met a lot of rich people as clients and got to know them rather well.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

53. It depends - I love George Soros but hate the Bush family....

n/t

[Raine]

54. What do you think of people in general

is more the question. Why obsess on someone with money, categorizing someone tells you absolutely nothing.

[sandyd921]

55. The problem with a lot of people who start off with modest means

and then make lots of money is that they end up as selfish republiCONS. I have nothing but contempt for those who have inherited wealth and who feel no obligation to the infrastructure that belongs to us all that has allowed their family to accumulate wealth and to those whose labor they benefit from. On the other hand I have nothing but admiration for those who remember where they came from, who realize that there is no such thing as a self-made man or woman, and who give back to society.

[boobooday]

56. I usually serve them with a light, sassy chardonnay

Just barely grilled on both sides . . .

[skids]

59. Only 3) is rich.

1) and two are middle-middle class. Anyone making under $80k is lower class.

"Don't have to work to sustain wealth, and suffer no hardship" is my definition of "rich" though I do extend that definition somewhat to cover the people that have to work to become rich, but are already well on their way.

Note however that bank CDs won't cut it, given true dollar devaluation. If you don't make 8% or more gain on an asset right now, the asset is losing value year over year. However 2 million is easily enough to work with if the assets are liquid, as you only need to go a couple percent over that 10% to live comfortably.